Man, 64, accused of setting trap of fish hooks for neighbor's dog

A dispute between neighbors led to animal cruelty charges against a man in the Brighton Park neighborhood.

A dispute between neighbors led to animal cruelty charges against a man in the Brighton Park neighborhood.

Rosemary Regina SobolTribune reporter

A 64-year-old man is accused of trapping his neighbor's dog in fishing lines and hooks in the Brighton Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

“Yeah, I did it," Douglas Markunas told the dog's owner, according to a police report. "Next time I’ll set a (expletive) bear trap for that dog."

Markunas was charged with cruelty to animals, resisting arrest, assault and criminal damage to property, all misdemeanors.

The incident happened Tuesday at a building in the 4500 block of South Troy Street. A neighbor had let his dog out but then heard it howling, according to the police report. The man went outside and found the dog entangled in clear fishing line and four fish hooks embedded in the dog’s legs, according to police.

“You need to be scared of me (expletive),” Markunas told the dog's owner, according to the report.

When police officers arrived, the dog's owner told them his neighbor hung the fishing line and hooks around the front yard to trap and hurt his dog, the report said.

When an officer grabbed the 64-year-old's arm to place him in custody, the man pulled away and tried to flee into his home, the report said.